Good afternoon all,

We have made it to the end of our first term – well done to everyone.  I’d like to thank you all for your support and ongoing cooperation.

Your children have been amazing.  The way that they have settled back into school life and the resilience that they have shown has impressed us all.  They have adapted well to the new routines and have engaged well with the learning required of them.  We are especially proud of our new Reception starters – I have enjoyed spending some time getting to know them.

Staggered Starts & Finishes

I know that these are a pain and I appreciate how hard they can be to manage around family and working life, unfortunately they remain a necessity, especially with the infection rate rising.  We have however reviewed the timings of these and are confident that we can safely reduce the time  being taken to get all children into school and away from school at the end of the day.  Please see the timings below.  Can I please ask that parents and children adhere to these timings, exceptions will not be made.  If your child brings themselves to school, please ensure they know the time that they are able to enter the school grounds.  We are still asking that only one parent enters the school site and that there is no loitering in the playground or outside of the school.  The school gates will be locked ay 3:15pm and any child not collected by 3:30pm will be placed in wrap around care and parents will be charged until 4:00pm.  Designated drop off and collection points will remain the same.

Pupil Reports and Parent Consultations

In the week after half term (week beginning Monday 2^nd November) an Autumn Term Report will be emailed to you from your child’s class teacher.  This will summarise how your child has settled and will identify some next steps or areas that will be worked on in the weeks that follow.  Please ensure that the school office have your most up-to-date email address as soon as possible.

Following this, should you require a further telephone consultation with the class teacher, you will be able to book a slot via the SchoolZine App. These will take place throughout the week commencing the 9^th November.  It has been necessary to timetable these appointments with each teacher having been given an allocated day and please be aware that, unfortunately, due to teaching commitments and the need to keep staff within their bubbles, appointments outside of the allocated slots are not possible.  We will have to be strict with the timings and slots will not be able to run over the allocated 10 minutes.  Bookings will open on Wednesday 4^th November at 9am and will close at midday on Friday 6^th November.

I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and safe half term.  We will look forward to seeing you all when term resumes on Tuesday 3^rd November.

Best wishes

Lucy Collins

Reception

Reception children had a lovely 'virtual visit' from PCSO Chris Jenkins who zoomed in to say hello to them all

Year 3

Both classes in Year 3 have been creating Acrostic Harvest Poems:

Year 5

Year 5 children created some fantastic art for Black History Month:

The Year 5s celebrated the end of their History unit ‘The Kingdom of Benin’ by making their own Benin bronzes out of clay. They then used bronze spray paint to make them look authentic, just like the ones created in Africa all that time ago.

Year 6 celebrated harvest by learning about and baking (mini) Victoria sponge cakes today. The Victoria sponge related nicely to our learning about the Industrial Revolution this term and was a fitting way to celebrate the children's hard work.

Homework

Children in KS2 have continued to raise the bar in the quality and quantity of their homework over the past 2 weeks - thank you and well done to all. Special mentions to Alexandra (7633 correct answers) and Sofia (618 games played) in Class 13 who have set new weekly records on TT Rockstars. Well done as well to 'Gentry Modesto' and 'Phoenix Merino' (avatar names) who currently top the Spelling Shed league table.

 

We are overwhelmed by your generous donations during Harvest Festival week.  These will be split between Gloucester Food Bank and Gloucester Feed the Hungry - both worthy causes. 

Thank you all so very much.

The Stars of the Week (ending 16th October) 

The Stars of the Week (ending 23rd October) 

We are delighted that we are able to bring the Christmas card project to you again this year. 

The children have been busy designing their amazing Christmas cards in class and the Artwork Forms will be coming home. 

Orders will only be possible online and due to the strict guidance and timescales that we are working within this year, the usual additional checks that we normally conduct will not be possible.  It is therefore vital that the following steps are taken to ensure that there are no errors or issues with your order.

To place an order, please follow these simple steps.

• Visit https://xmas.cauliflowergroup.co.uk and enter your child’s Unique Code as shown on the Artwork Form. You can then make your selection and payment. 

• Ensure the Artwork Form is fully completed, including writing your child’s name and class on the form and circling the small tree symbol to indicate the direction that you would like the card to be printed.

• Once you have placed the order and made payment, please hand the Artwork Form back to your child’s class teacher. If you have more than one child at the school, please hand forms in separately to each child’s class.

• All orders must be placed online by no later than Sunday 1^st November 2020, and the Artwork Form must be handed in to school no later than Thursday 5^th November 2020.

• Late orders will NOT be possible and it will NOT be possible to chase up any missing artwork. Orders without the corresponding Artwork Form will be cancelled by Cauliflower Cards and payment refunded.

Please be aware that we will endeavour to get your order to you as soon as possible, but that the order timescales are out of our control.  We are not responsible for any delays resulting from government guidelines or supplier issues and no refunds will be available from Friends of Linden. 

Thank you,

Friends of Linden

Half term

A few reminders during half term (more details further down):

Wraparound Care (Breakfast and Afterschool Care) bookings open at 9am on Monday 26th October and closes on Wednesday 28th October at 12midday.

Friday 30th is the last day to complete the Parent Voice questionaire about the PHSE programme of learning

Saturday 31st October is the deadline for completing the forms for your child to transfer to secondary school.

Monday 2nd November is an INSET day - school is closed to pupils.

Flu immunisation

The Immunisation Team will be at school in December. It is important that you consent or decline the flu vaccination via the online consent form. A failure to do this will result in further contact from the Immunisation Team to ensure that you have received the offer of vaccination.  The vaccination is a quick and simple spray up the nose

You can complete the form online via this link:

The School Office have spare copies if needed - email [email protected] and we will arrange to send a copy home via your child.

Self Isolating Children

Please can we remind you that if you have children in isolation (for example, due to secondary school closure) they should not attend pick up / collection at our school to reduce transmission risk of Covid-19 to all.

Parent Voice questionnaire

On 14th October you were sent an email detailing Linden Primary School's Personal Social Health and Economic education programme to embed Relationships Education. Please dont forget to complete the PSHE / RSE Parent Voice questionnaire on the SZapp,  your opinions are important to us and all responses are anonymous should you wish them to be.

The questionaire can be found on the SZapp until Friday 30th October or by following this link:

Wraparound Care

Bookings are closed at the moment.  Please be aware that bookings will be opening during half term week on MONDAY 26th October at 9am and will close on WEDNESDAY 28th October at 12midday for fortnight commencing Tuesday 3rd November until Friday 13th November.  

The bookings will go live fortnightly on Mondays at 9am and close Wednesdays at midday for bookings.  Bookings cannot be taken after this time.  Please email [email protected]  with any queries.

School Food

The menu dates have been updated and can be found on the SZapp and on the school's website.  Please could we ask you to take a moment to complete a very short questionaire with your child about the school meals.  It's on the SZapp or you can access it here:

Atlas Camps

More information will follow about these dates